Footlights

By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

Published: September 5, 2001

Off the Wall

The time is the early 20th century. The place is Kizil on the outskirts of the remote northwestern oasis city Kucha in the arid Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, China. German archaeologists are at work, aware that in the third through seventh centuries Kucha was a major stop on the trans-Asian Silk Road and a major Buddhist center. At Kizil they rediscover cave temples where Buddhist monks lived and larger, more lavishly decorated caves commissioned by the local gentry, merchants and other faithful. In these chambers, wall paintings depicted sermon scenes or episodes from Buddha's life and parables concerning the doctrine of karma. Beginning on Sunday, the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington will exhibit 15 cave painting fragments from Kizil. ''The Cave as Canvas: Hidden Images of Worship Along the Silk Road'' continues through July 7.

In Celebration

Antonin Dvorak was born on Sept. 8, 1841. To celebrate his birthday, the Henry Street Settlement will begin a free concert series at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the Harry De Jur Playhouse, at 466 Grand Street, on the Lower East Side. The Henry Street Chamber Players will present Dvorak's rarely performed Quintet for Strings and Double Bass and his Quintet for Piano and Strings. The Metropolitan Opera bass baritone Terry Cook will perform selections from Dvorak's ''Biblical Songs'' and ''Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal.''

Street Scene

The son of a Polish immigrant involved in Communist politics and Yiddish culture, Ben Katchor was born in 1951 in Brooklyn. Yiddish-inflected New York culture and an immersion in comics shaped his future. Today, the recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundation fellowships, he is renowned for his illustrations, graphic novels and set designs. Beginning on Sunday and continuing through Feb. 10, the Jewish Museum will offer ''Ben Katchor: Picture-Stories,'' described as the first major museum exhibition devoted to his work.

Absurdity

The Pearl Theater will mount ''Exit the King.'' Untitled Theater Company No. 61 will perform ''Rhinoceros.'' Looking Glass Theater will present Israel Horowitz's adaptation of ''Man With Bags.'' All these are part of the Ionesco Festival, in which 29 Off and Off Off Broadway theaters will band together to present all 39 works by the Romanian-born French playwright Eugene Ionesco (1912-1994), sometimes called the father of theater of the absurd. The festival includes an Ionesco film program, readings and seminars. Continuing through Dec. 2, the event begins at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow with ''Rhinoceros'' at the Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village. LAWRENCE VAN GELDER